Friday, 12 June 2009

The topic of cycles covers a great range of scales. This could be ranging from body functions like the pulse to daily routines weekly repetition of free days to yearly celebration of festivals and goes all the way up to live cycles or careers. A lot of aspects of life are cyclical and there is continuous repetition. A surprising category is the subject of sport. Talking F1, there are a number of careers of great drivers that are not linear. A great example is Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton’s careers. A big up and down and kind of unpredictable sequences. Button started of almost ten years ago as a promising driver, but hasn’t really won anything until this season. Hamilton on the other hand has won the title world champion in his second year, but is nowhere in his third. There is a lot of talent involved, but a large part is also routine and practice. This applies to all areas of excellence. It does need the right format to fit the particular field, but then it takes time to build a confidence and routine. Some people claim it to be around 10’000 hours of practice to turn someone into an expert. On the golf course things are similar. Online at History shots I came across this great visualization of the major performers on the PGA tour. If you are familiar with this sport from Hagen to Woods will tell you something, if not don’t worry just look at the curves and lines of the visualization and you’ll understand the joy, sadness, hope and tragedy of a great variety of careers.

"Cycles of Greatness is a fascinating map of the history of all the great golfers over the past 90 years. From Hagen to Woods, it's all covered; the amount of information is stunning. Any fan of golf will certainly enjoy this print." Patrick Gleason, P.G.A. ProfessionalImage can be bought on the website directly, It is properly sourced, with a long list of golf references ...!

Interesting are how the careers are interwoven, as the rise of one player means the fall of some others. In the special zooms integrated on the main map, these details of tour rivalry are shown and it visualizes how these ups and downs are connected.

About this blog

Cycle studies are the science of everyday life, as normal as it gets. Its focus is the daily routine, with its habits and rhythms as they occure in most citizens' lifes. It is the power of the normal that brings stability and the routine that ensures security. But is is the cycles's dynamic of flow and continuation that prevents life from freezing.

Cycles therefore stand for stability but are at the same time the engine of change.

With this blog the research on cycles and rhythms will be embedded in the most recent developments in technology, covering a range of areas with a focus on space-time related technologies.

The research is undertaken at CASA Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, UCL.